Thermoregulation

what part of the brain control thermoregulation?

the hypothalamus

what is thermoregulation

the control of our internal body temp

why must our internal body temperature be kept constant?

it has to be kept at 37’C at all times as it’s the optimum temperature for enzyme activity and enzymes catalyse a lot of reactions around the body and if it’s too low then enzyme will activity will be too slow, and if it’s too high then enzymes will begin to denature and change shape so they won’t work properly anymore

what happens when we get too hot?

1. receptors in the skin detect this change and send a signal to the hypothalamus to coordinate a response

vasodilation - the blood vessels flowing near the surface of the skin dilate, so this means that there’s more warm blood flowing near the surface so more heat energy is transferred to the surroundings bringing body temp back down

sweating - sweat glands release sweat which takes heat energy away when it evaporates transferring heat energy to the surroundings cooling us down and brining our body temp back down

what happens when we get too cold?

1. receptors in the skin detect this change and send a signal to the thermoregulatory centre (hypothalamus) to coordinate a response

shivering - it’s an involuntary muscle contraction, and as muscles release energy via aerobic respiration for contraction, they carry out aerobic respiration and this releases heat energy as a waste product

vasoconstriction - blood vessels near the surface of the skin constrict reducing the amount of blood flowing near the surface of the skin conserving heat energy, so less heat is transferred to the surroundings